By Chhay Channyda
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
A week after a 12-year-old Siem Reap province girl first complained to police that she had been raped by three police officers, police Monday applied to Siem Reap court for arrest warrants for the men.
So Vat, the chief prosecutor of Siem Reap Provincial Court, said he received the application Monday for arrest warrants for the three police officers.
The court, however, must now question the victim before deciding whether to issue the warrants, he said.
So Vat could not say when the victim will be summoned.
Officers Neang Sam Sineth, 25, and Kong Sokhun, 21, both of the Kok Chak commune police force, and provincial intervention policeman Lack Vichheka, 19, are accused of raping the girl over a three-day period from Nov 11 to Nov 13.
The three reportedly fled in early December when they discovered that the 12-year-old had revealed that she was raped at the Kok Chak commune police post and nearby jungle.
One of the accused, Kong Sokhun, is the son of Prasat Bakong district deputy governor Kong Pro Loeung.
Kong Pro Loeung said last week that his son was guilty of the rape and admitted to trying to buy his son's way out of a trial by offering the victim's mother $500.
Chao Leak Vanna, the provincial investigator for the rights group Licadho, said Monday that it had taken too long for the rape case to reach the courts.
Now that the matter was in the hands of the court, Chao Leak Vanna expressed hope that arrest warrants would be issued soon.
Sun Bunthorng, chief of the provincial anti-trafficking and juvenile protection bureau, denied that police had dragged their feet to protect some of their colleagues.
"Police were carefully compiling the documents," he said.
Chap Muon, an investigator for the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center, said that the court may find it hard to collect detailed answers from the victim as she may feel frightened and embarrassed.
"It is hard to make the victim tell more about the rapes," he said.
So Vat, the chief prosecutor of Siem Reap Provincial Court, said he received the application Monday for arrest warrants for the three police officers.
The court, however, must now question the victim before deciding whether to issue the warrants, he said.
So Vat could not say when the victim will be summoned.
Officers Neang Sam Sineth, 25, and Kong Sokhun, 21, both of the Kok Chak commune police force, and provincial intervention policeman Lack Vichheka, 19, are accused of raping the girl over a three-day period from Nov 11 to Nov 13.
The three reportedly fled in early December when they discovered that the 12-year-old had revealed that she was raped at the Kok Chak commune police post and nearby jungle.
One of the accused, Kong Sokhun, is the son of Prasat Bakong district deputy governor Kong Pro Loeung.
Kong Pro Loeung said last week that his son was guilty of the rape and admitted to trying to buy his son's way out of a trial by offering the victim's mother $500.
Chao Leak Vanna, the provincial investigator for the rights group Licadho, said Monday that it had taken too long for the rape case to reach the courts.
Now that the matter was in the hands of the court, Chao Leak Vanna expressed hope that arrest warrants would be issued soon.
Sun Bunthorng, chief of the provincial anti-trafficking and juvenile protection bureau, denied that police had dragged their feet to protect some of their colleagues.
"Police were carefully compiling the documents," he said.
Chap Muon, an investigator for the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center, said that the court may find it hard to collect detailed answers from the victim as she may feel frightened and embarrassed.
"It is hard to make the victim tell more about the rapes," he said.
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